TheKoketso SachaneShow

The debt status of South African Airways (SAA) was questioned in Parliament today. This was in connection with the Standing Committee on Public Accounts' (Scopa) interrogation into irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure racked up by the airline during the past financial year.

EWN Reporter Gaye Davis says that chief financial officer Phumeza Nhantsi stated that the airline has a cash flow problem and they can't afford to pay their suppliers.

She adds that they have something like R6.8 billion in loans that come due in September, and it is uncertain whether their lenders are prepared to roll those loans over and extend the repayment time.

We heard from Minster Buthelezi, the Deputy Finance Minister that the government will not allow SAA to go under and neither will it privatise it. The cabinet is seized with this issue of a capital injection for SAA.

— Gaye Davis, EWN Reporter

Davis says that there are a number of investigations surrounding the airline. Buthelezi stated that the serious problems with SAA stem from legacy issues, bad decisions made in the past, mismanagement an criminal elements.